“Well, that must have been just a peachy experience.” Bethany’s sarcasm was actually welcome. I choked on the mixture of emotion and laughter. As I recovered, I looked up to find a half smile looking back at me and gave her a quick nod of thanks.
“I’ll let you get to it, but I know Cole will come around, Aidan. Amelia is all he has left and she hasn’t even had the chance to grieve. If he won’t help her, then what was all this for?” Bethany stood up and turned, stilling when I spoke again.
“I think Micah may be here to stay, B. I know you don’t love that, but we need him and his Hunter.” I watched her back stiffen and then relax.
As she walked away, Bethany tossed over her shoulder, “Here or not, he’s on my shit list and he’s not coming off anytime soon.”
6
He was gone. I knew Aidan had left the room because she disappeared, leaving me to go wreak havoc on some other part of my physical body. She painted my veins and arteries with her dark brush of power, a stain in my blood branding my body from the inside out. I’d grown used to the constant pain; it was a low burn that cramped my muscles but gave me time to breathe — to regroup and attempt patience.
The touch was light, a feather gently teasing my skin. I immediately assumed Aidan, but a light orange haze only broken by swirling eyes shimmered in front of me. He never fully took shape, but Baleon’s soft voice was a whisper in my mind.
“Quiet now. Don’t speak to me or react in any way. I am here to heal, to feed your body and soul. But this will be a game of cat and mouse, and I am not typically the mouse. I must keep moving and discreetly do what I can. I will stay as long as I can. I will give you what you need.”
I barely moved my head in acknowledgement. Bale and I had slowly started to build a relationship at Cresthaven. I wouldn’t call it a friendship, but he protected me from Rhi and made me feel less alone. Even now, his presence gave me even more hope that Aidan was right. We would bind her. I would come back to him and myself.
A slow trickle of warmth seeped through my system. Similar to a warm meal on a cold night, I felt replenished and comfortable. I stopped a sigh before it left my lips and huddled farther back in the corner where Baleon found me.
Nothing would look out of the ordinary, but I was preparing for a war.
7
My last stop was Cole. I approached his door with a certain mixture of unease and determination. Baleon was still with Amelia. I snuck a look in her window to find him in the same position I’d left him in, except now a bright orange glow took up the space between his hand and her skin. I forced myself to move along and allow him to do what was best for her, satisfied I was doing the same.
I stood outside Cole’s door, shifting my weight from foot to foot. Bethany offered to come with me, to bridge the gap, so to speak, but I knew she wasn’t what we needed. If Cole needed persuading, it wasn’t going to be with a big smile and some southern catchphrase. It was time to man up and get the job done. The words bounced around inside my head and were just as much for me as they might need to be for him.
I knocked three sharp raps on the dark-stained wood. The deep thunk was satisfying. He must have expected Bethany, which was exactly as I’d hoped, because he opened the door and then turned away, walking back across the room. I stepped through and let it stay open behind me. I stared at his back. The man I’d trained with, who I had even feared for a brief time before he knew about Amelia and me, looked like a shell of himself.
All the shades were closed, preventing even a speck of sunlight from entering his room. One small bedside lamp cast a low yellow glow throughout the room, giving me small hints at the mess that accumulated over the past few days. My nose did the rest. I smelled the dirty laundry, his unwashed body, and the food-crusted plates he’d piled on the small desk in the corner. This Cole was nothing like the regimented, controlled man I’d met in the gym.
“What do you want, Montgomery?” he asked, keeping his back to me.
“You can’t hide in here forever, Cole. She needs you.” I cut straight to it.
Cole whirled around and in seconds, had me pinned against the wall by my throat. His hold wasn’t too tight, but the pads of his fingers and his thumb pressed against my windpipe as he eyed me from inches away.
“She needs me? She did this! This is her fault! Don’t you get it? He sacrificed himself for her. Mom sacrificed herself for her. They gave me this godforsaken power JUST FOR HER. All these years, I thought I was making up for the fact that I had time with Mom and Dad and she didn’t. Instead, I enabled her to do whatever damn thing she wanted so she could blame the prophecy, or being the one who had to protect us, or the one the Queen was after. I gave up my life and my relationship with my father…and now he’s gone.”
His emotions were everywhere. His magic spiked and eroded in the most erratic ways. I stood still, barely breathing as I watched his chest heave and heard his voice break. Cole had borne the brunt of Amelia’s fate and she had no idea.
I wanted to empathize with him. To gently take him from here to where I needed him to be, but there wasn’t time. Cole’s grip on my throat loosened and his hand dropped to his side. He stumbled backwards and dropped onto the bed. I wondered if he’d been drinking, but I couldn’t feel anything impaired about him outside of his spastic magic.
“Cole,” I started quietly, “I hear what you’re saying, man, and it isn’t fair. What you saw, what you had to do, none of it was right. But, Amelia didn’t choose this. She didn’t ask your parents for this power, or this prophecy. She was a baby and she didn’t have a choice. She needed you. She needs you now. I was able to get to her, to talk to her. I told her about your father and you were the first person she asked for. She begged me to take her to you, Cole.”
I slowly took a step toward him and Cole’s head shot up, wide, bloodshot eyes connecting with mine. “Me? Why would she want me?” I saw fear. Straight, unadulterated fear. And that wasn’t something I expected.
“No, Cole, she wanted you because she was worried about you. She knew you and Nathaniel had been mending fences and she wanted to be there for you.” I put my hands out and tried to inch closer. He pulled away and I stopped.
“Then where is she, huh? Why isn’t she here? Why is she hiding from it all, from facing what she did?” His voice carried, the deep timbre getting louder with every word. I wondered briefly how Bethany dealt with this side of him, or if she’d seen it.
I squatted down to eye level. “She’s stuck, Cole. The Keeper has taken control and the only way Amelia can keep it from forcing her into doing things she doesn’t want to do is to shut down. But, I know how to get her back — a way we can take the Keeper power down, give ourselves the chance to fulfill this prophecy, and get the revenge you want. Rhi did this, Cole. The Queen, she controls Rhi. You’ve got to help me get Amelia back so we can stop them. That’s what the prophecy says, we will stop them, but only with your help.” I was pleading with someone who I thought might be insane. Everything Cole Bradbury was had been broken and I had no idea what would resonate within this fragmented person in front of me.
“You need me to do it again, don’t you?” His voice was small this time. Defeated.
“I do. Exactly what you did before. Can you do that, Cole?” I asked cautiously.
“You don’t understand what it did to me. Amelia pulled and she pulled and she took something she didn’t give back. Don’t you see, Aidan? She can do that, she can take parts of you and never give them back. I don’t know if I can do that again.” He scrubbed both hands over his face and through his hair, wrapping his massive hands around the back of his neck.
“Was it Amelia or was it the Keeper, Cole?” I knew from experience the Keeper had her own pull. She had taken my power in gulps and almost drained me in seconds. I’d had to ask Cole to give to me the way he’d been giving to Amelia so I could get her out of Cresthaven. Suddenly, my demands felt like too much, like I contributed to where he was now.
Cole leaned in
and dropped his elbows to his knees. “It was Amelia, Aidan. She knew exactly what she was doing. I could feel her in there and with every piece of me she pulled in, she sighed like someone was giving her a massage, not like she was sucking the life out of her brother.”
I wanted to argue. I wanted to yell and pound him against the wall until he broke and told me he’d do whatever I wanted him to do. But, that wasn’t right. No part of that was right. So, instead, I pled.
“Cole, without you, we can’t save her. Without you, she’ll stay buried deep inside herself until the Keeper finds a way to force her into compliance and she starts ripping everything to shreds. None of us know what the Keeper is fully capable of and I don’t think any of us want to know,” I said. “But if we can’t get Amelia back and find the answers we need, it isn’t just her who suffers. The rest of us…we’re going to die. The Queen will send her Hunters for us and maybe it will be all at once, or maybe it will be one by one, but they will come and we will all die. We did something at Cresthaven we can’t take back, Cole, and you were a part of that. The best hope you have is getting her through this and her fixing whatever she broke when you come out on the other side.”
His eyes hadn’t left mine during my speech. It was my last ditch effort and nothing but the truth. He dropped his head down into his hands and shook it back and forth. “Do you think she can fix me? Because I know this isn’t me, Aidan, and I don’t want to be this guy. So, really, tell me if you think whatever my sister has inside her can fix me.” Cole’s voice shook as he looked up at me. This time, he was the one pleading.
“I think she can,” I said. At least, I hope she can, I thought to myself.
“Fine. Tell me what I have to do.” Cole stood on shaky legs and faced me, the determination I was used to seeing only a shadow in his features. But, it was there, and that was all I could ask for.
I paced the hallway outside Amelia’s door. It had been a few hours and I was close to busting the damn thing down when finally, Baleon emerged. He stopped in front of me, and said, “I have done as much as I can. The Keeper did not find me, though she understood there was something happening and was not pleased. Amelia will be stronger now, but first, she must rest.” His lingering stare made his request clear.
I barely got a “Thank you,” out before he was out the back door. Knowing he wanted me to leave Amelia alone, I followed him, intending to ask about the binding and if he would help. I yanked open the door to find myself face to face with Rynna and Derreck.
They stepped back, and I did what I should have done long before now. I held my hand out to Derreck and he looked questioningly between Baleon’s back and me as he shook it.
“I haven’t stopped to thank you for opening your home and land to us, Derreck,” I said, avoiding the question he didn’t ask. “It’s long overdue and I apologize for that. I don’t know where we would have gone otherwise.”
He nodded and squeezed my hand a little harder. “It’s the least I could do. These women have been through too much and my shields should hold for a while, keeping us protected and giving us time to make a better plan.” Rynna smiled at me as she nodded along with Derreck.
“These are our people, Aidan. They need us. We see ourselves as Immortals, not as Mage or AniMage,” she said. Her words lit a spark inside me. I couldn’t do anything for Amelia yet — Baleon said she needed rest — but there was an entire group of Immortals here who needed to know where we stood and what was happening.
“I have a plan to help free Amelia from the Keeper, but it has to wait until tomorrow,” I said. “In the interim, can you help me rally everyone together? They need an explanation, to know where we are, what we’re doing here, and what the plan is. I don’t want them to worry unnecessarily. If the shields will hold until we can truly make a plan and some of the women who are farther along can give birth, then we can decide where to go and what to do.”
“Of course we can, Aidan,” Rynna responded. “Derreck and I have kept our distance, but we’ve waited to hear from you about Amelia and how we can best introduce Mikail and Baleon to the rest of the group.”
“My hope is we can talk to everyone before the rest of the pack gets here. The people already here are our best advocates, and if we can convince them Micah and Baleon are needed and on our side, and Amelia is coming back to us, I think they can help the others integrate better. Or, at least, stop them from causing too much drama.” I thought of Melinda and Braxton and felt a headache starting. At the same moment, my wolf made himself known for the first time in a while. He made it clear a shift was necessary — and soon.
“How about right after dinner? We’ll have everyone gather behind the house and you can use the deck as a stage.” Derreck’s plan sounded good to me. We agreed and I turned to leave.
“Aidan,” Rynna said quietly.
I turned back. “Yes?”
“How is she? I’ve tried to see her, but Charlie won’t let me through the door. I can feel her, though…” There were many emotions mixed into the words Rynna didn’t say.
“I’m going to bring her back,” I said. Fierce determination made the words sound more defensive than I’d intended, so I softened my tone. “I was able to get to her and she’s ready to fight the Keeper. I have a plan. There are just more pieces I need in place before it can happen. Soon, though, she’ll be back soon.”
Rynna stepped forward and put her hand on my shoulder. I looked down at the small woman with the huge heart and felt some peace come over me.
“It sounds like you need all your wits about you,” she said with a small smile. Apparently, Rynna’s calm personality extended into her abilities, much like Cole’s used to.
“I appreciate that,” I said. “Do you know where Baleon has been hiding with Micah? I told them to find a spot for themselves, but have no idea where they ended up. He’s my last stop before I figure out what I’m going to say to everyone.”
Derreck pointed to the back of the house. “There’s a walk out basement under the deck. It’s kind of hidden and acts as its own apartment. I pointed them that way knowing it was fairly self-sufficient and would keep them out of sight for a while.”
I thanked him and walked around the house, ducking under the deck and knocking lightly on the glass door. Baleon recognized me and I heard the click of the lock before he slid the door open.
“Prince Mikail is resting. Now is not the time.” He spoke softly, but firmly, acting as if we hadn’t just spoken to each other.
“I’m sorry, but I need to see him. Things are happening and he needs to be part of the discussion.” I tried to take a step forward and found myself with a giant palm planted in my chest. My wolf immediately responded and a growl released from the back of my throat.
“Will you two stop all the posturing? I am right here, and, Bale, contrary to your beliefs, I am not dying and am perfectly capable of speaking. I would simply prefer to do it sitting down.” Micah’s voice cut through the tension between us.
“Oh, good gravy, Bale, sit down. Aidan, come in.” As Baleon moved out of my sight line, Micah leaning against a small island in the kitchen came into view.
“Good gravy? Is that the way royals talk these days?” I smirked and Micah responded with an eye roll.
“She may hate me, but that doesn’t mean I hate her. That infuriating woman is stuck in my head.” He looked like himself, but the moment Micah tried to take a step, he faltered and Baleon was there to support him. I could tell the Hunter wanted to pick him up and put him somewhere, but Micah glared and Baleon grimaced while offering an arm for Micah to use as a crutch while he hobbled a few more feet to the couch.
I sat down in a black leather chair, across from the matching couch. “You look like hell,” I said as I sat back and looked around. The apartment was small, but it had the same class as the rest of Derreck’s place — all dark wood, granite, and leather. The log cabin exterior was a front for a guy who liked nice things.
Micah snorted. “And I feel l
ike it. Bale has done all he can to speed the healing process, but my mother has always fought to win. The pain she inflicted was meant to linger and teach me a lesson.”
“Your mother did this to you? I assumed it was the Hunters.” I was shocked, but Micah only shrugged. “I thought I’d had it bad growing up, but I think you win. At least the parents who hated me weren’t actually mine.”
“It won’t make any sense to you, but she actually did it to protect me,” Micah said as I stared, disbelief written all over my face. “If I had kept fighting the Hunters, she would have had to allow them to fight back. She controlled them for as long as she could and it took almost everything she had to keep them from hurting me. She finally realized she was losing control and it was easier to stop me from attacking than to stop them from hurting me. The lasting injuries are my lesson to learn.
“As I went down,” he continued, “the women and AniMages were escaping while Joran and Bale fended off the Hunters. After my mother sent her last attack at me, she lost consciousness and Rhi caught her. Joran continued to fight, and Rhi called the other Hunters to him to protect my mother, giving us enough time to escape through the library and into the maze.”
“Is she okay?” I asked, out of respect, even though I hoped he would tell me she was dead. It would make everything a hell of a lot easier.
“She is my mother, which means I can feel her life force,” Micah said. “It is weak, but she is still with us. Rhi will not allow her death. It would ruin his plans to validate his race and bring the Hunters to power. He still holds a misguided notion that my mother will make him King.” Micah yanked his long hair back into a ponytail and for the first time, his voice shook as he spoke. “You should be concerned about retaliation, Aidan. Once she can, she’ll send Hunters for all of us. We need to move.”
Bound by Prophecy (Bound Series Book 3) Page 3
